Frequently Asked Questions For Faculty and Staff

Shippensburg University Computing Technologies Center has compiled step-by-step instructions for a variety of your computer-related questions. If, at any time, you need additional assistance or explanation, please call the Ship Faculty and Staff Help Desk at x3499 (FIXX) or email helpdesk@ship.edu.

Email

What type of email system is used on campus?

Microsoft Outlook is the full-featured email and calendaring system used by faculty and staff members. Faculty and staff members may use the Microsoft Outlook client installed on their campus PCs. Faculty and staff members with Macintosh computers may use the Microsoft Entourage client installed onto their campus Mac. Students use Outlook WebAccess for their email. Faculty and Staff members wishing to access their email from off-campus may also use Outlook WebAccess. Outlook WebAccess is available at http://mail.ship.edu

How can I email my entire class?

Use Internet Explorer with your on-campus computer. After logging into the Faculty Information System at http://info.ship.edu, you can select the options to email your entire class. When you click on the link to email, your computer should automatically launch the Outlook email client (for PC users) or Entourage (for Macintosh users.) You may then compose the message and click on Send to distribute it to your entire class. If you computer does not automatically launch Outlook or Entourage, call the Ship Faculty and Staff Help Desk at x3499 (FIXX) or email helpdesk@ship.edu.

How do I send email to a large list of people?

It is against University policy to send an email to hundreds of people. The reasons for this are that it ties up the email system and many people consider this type of email to be spam. If your audience for a particular message is really everyone across campus, it is recommended that you use a different media (i.e., post information on your website, publish a notice in the FACT, or send a direct mailing). The size limit for Faculty/Staff distribution group is 160.

When sending an email to a smaller, targeted group of people:

Type your own name in the "To:" dialog box

List the recipients' names in the " BCC:"; dialog box. If you do not see the BCC: field in Outlook, click on the arrow to the right of the Options button and choose BccIf a BCC recipient mistakenly selects reply to all, only you (the sender) receives the reply.

Why do I receive messages from people that I haven't sent email to saying that I sent them emails which had viruses?

Viruses (and spammers) often forge the "From:" address with an address extracted from the victim machine's email address book or message store. Therefore the perceived sender is most likely not the infected user. When the recipient of the actual virus has virus-scanning software which auto-replies to the From: address (your address), the auto-reply says "you have a virus" when actually you don't have a virus. The virus originated somewhere else on the Internet. There is nothing that we can do to stop the FROM: address from being forged on computers outside of our network. Email coming into and out of the Microsoft Outlook email system is scanned for viruses. Therefore, it is unlikely your computer is infected by an email virus. You can most likely ignore the auto-replies and delete them. If you are uncertain, please contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@ship.edu or call x3499.

A suggestion for easily creating a strong password is to think in terms of a pass phrase or short sentence using punctuation. For example, the following examples are easy to remember - but strong as well.

How do I change my Outlook password?

How can I increase the inactivity timeout for Outlook Web Access?

Choose the "Private Computer" option on the login screen. This option will allow 24 hours before the session times out due to inactivity. Only select this option if you are the only person who uses the computer. The "Public or shared computer" option will cause the session to timeout after 15 minutes of inactivity. This option should be selected if you are accessing Outlook Web Access from a public computer in a microlab, library, Internet café, airport, etc.

Faculty/Staff Personal Network File Storage

The Computing Technologies Center has reserved space on our network file server for faculty and staff to store important documents and other files from their PC. This network storage provides many benefits, such as the ability to access your files on any computer on campus or from home.

How do I access my network files from my office computer on campus?

You can access your network files from your office computer using two different methods. The first method is to open 'My Computer' and then double-click on the T: drive, as shown below. You can then drag files to the T: drive, or save them directly using Microsoft Word or another program.

You can also access your network files from the 'My Network Documents' shortcut provided for you in the My Documents folder. To move any of the items from your My Documents folder to the 'My Network Documents' folder, simply click an item and drag it to the 'My Network Documents' folder. This will create a copy of the document on your personal network space. You may then delete the original copy in your My Documents folder if you like.

How do I access my network files from another computer on campus?

You can access your network files from any network-connected PC on campus. Simply log in to the computer with your own User ID and password. You should then have access to the T: drive when you open 'My Computer'.

If you need to access your network files from a lab machine that is already logged in, or from a Mac, follow the directions below under 'How do I access my network files from my home computer?'

How do I access my network files from my home computer?

One major benefit to storing your files on your T: drive space is that those files are available to you off-campus. In fact, almost any Internet-connected computer in the world will allow you to access your network files. Also, network file access via the Internet is secure. You will be required to type in your User ID and password to access your files.

To access your files from Internet Explorer, do the following:

Open Internet Explorer and delete everything that currently appears in the address bar. Type in ftp://files.ship.edu and press Enter.

You will be asked to login to your account. Type in your User ID and password, and then click 'Log On'.

You should then have access to your files. You can open and view files on your Network File Space, save changes to files, and also use the computer you are on to move files from that computer's hard drive to your Network File Space.

What types of files can I store in my network file space?

Any business-related data files may be stored in your network file space. Storing personal (non-business-related) music, movies, or data is not supported or encouraged.

How much space do I have to store items on the network?

Each faculty/staff member is provided with 10 GB of network file storage space, enough to hold several thousand documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel files, and all sorts of other data. When your network file space becomes too full, you will receive a warning message when you try to save additional data to the space. If you receive this message, you will then need to cleanup your files in order to downsize.

How do I check how much space I am currently using?

You can easily check how much space you are currently using on your Network File Space. To check, do the following:

From your office computer, open 'My Computer' and double-click on your T: drive in the list.

Click on the 'Edit' menu and then click 'Select All'.

Right-click on any of the files on your T: drive and then click on 'Properties'.

By looking at 'Size', you will then be able to see how much space you are using out of the total available 2 GB in your Network File Space. Keep in mind that 2 GB = 2048 MB.

How secure are the files I store on the network? Can others access them?

No other faculty, staff, or students can access the files that you store on your Network File Space unless they use a computer that you are currently logged in to. To prevent others from gaining access to your files, it is important that you log off a computer when you are finished using it. When others need to use the workstation, they will be able to log on with their own ID and password.

Additionally, the only time users can access network files from off-campus is when they have a Shippensburg University User ID and password. Therefore, only you can access your own files from off-campus.

Are my network files backed up, or do I need to take additional steps to do so?

One major benefit to storing documents and files on your Network File Space is that these files are automatically stored on our server. This server is backed up daily, which means that files can be quickly restored in the event of a hardware failure. You do not need to take any additional steps to ensure that your files are backed up properly.

Printing

How do I print what I see on my monitor?

Press the Print Screen keyIf your screen print does not print to your default printer, you have 2 options:

Paste the screen print into existing software to print

Open Microsoft Word or Paint (Start | Programs | Accessories | Paint)

Select Edit | Paste

Select File | Print

Install PrintKey software

Open U:\NETAPPS\PrintKey

Double click PrintKey20 (installs the software)

Press the Print Screen key

Click Print from the PrintKey20 window

How do I print SAP transactions that can't be sent to my SAP networked printer?

Open SAP

Left click on the multi-colored icon (red, green and blue stripes) on the Toolbar

Check that the network cable is plugged into the back of your computer and that the lights beside the plug are blinking

Software

How do I purchase a copy of Microsoft Office?

Copies of Microsoft Office Professional Edition are provided for faculty and staff members through the Microsoft Campus Agreement. This agreements provides a copy of Microsoft Office for SU-owned computers used by faculty and staff members. Microsoft Office 2007 has been installed on all facutly and staff computers as a part of the email conversion from Groupwise to Microsoft Outlook. If you feel your computer needs an upgraded version of Microsoft Office Professional Edition, please contact the Ship Faculty & Staff helpdesk at X3499.

How should I download and install newer versions of software?

Please contact the Ship Facutly and Staff HelpDesk at X3499 regarding software installation questions. A technician will be able to install needed software for your campus computer.

SPAM Filter

How do I access my junk messages on the SPAM Filter and how do I change my SPAM Filter settings?

The Shippensburg University SPAM Filtering system is configured by default to quarantine suspected SPAM messages. You may access your account to change these settings and/or review quarantined messages. View instructions.

Support

What number do I call for technology support?

Technology HELP Line - Dial HELP (4357)

The Information & Technology Services division has a central HELP line (x4357) for faculty, staff and student use. This help line is for issues related to Immediate Classroom Technology Assistance, Computer Support, Multimedia Support, Blackboard Support, Instructional Technology Support, Library Reference Desk, Telephone/Voicemail Support and Residence Network Support. With a simple menu selection, this central phone number routes your call to the people who can address your issue.